Of Vikings and Dragons
by TreepeltA113
Summary: So, what was really going on in Toothless' head while he touched Hiccup? Who is the Green Death? Why is Toothless the only of his race? All of these questions answered and more. Movie from Toothless' POV. Chapter six, read and enjoy!
1. Chapter 1

The air was black, solid black as the dragon soared through the stars. Dawn was drawing near. The moon was as black as the night, as it was newing. The previous night it had been as thin as a scale. Hardly enough light to see by, but not a problem for a Night Fury. Most of the light came from the glow of the island below, anyway.

This particular Night Fury cocked his head to listen for the telltale crackle of people-fire. This fire was not as hot or as strong as dragon fire, but it could burn through a wing membrane in the blink of an eye if one was too careless. The Night Fury's dragon clan could not take food if these fire-sticks were raised in the air. This was his job, to destroy the fire-sticks and the stone-flingers that threatened the dragons. The Night Fury's sharp eyes could spot the small, horned people rushing about on the island so far below, waving sharp metal sticks and downing many of his brothers. The Night Fury flapped his wings a few times, gaining height, and then dropped into a controlled fall. He summoned the gas that came from inside his fire-stomach, and, with a loud screeching sound, let loose a bolt of violet fire.

The blast tore apart a stone-flinger that was already burning with ripple-fire. The dragon could tell because of the way the fire looked like water, swirling and graceful. He banked, and blasted apart another structure that could have been a stone-flinger, but was almost unrecognizable under the flames that covered it.

The dragon rumbled in the way dragons laughed. It was satisfying to quench the thirst for destruction.

He hovered, watching a troupe of blue-spiked dragons surround a flock of sheep. They nipped at the sheep's wool, frightening them into hysteria. However, one of the bigger horned-people tossed a net over the group, trapping the blue-spikes, then jumped down with a group of his companions and attacked the blue-spikes, holding their jaws shut.

The Night Fury snarled, his cry echoing over the vast sea. He'd show these horned-people who conquered who! Summoning his energy, he blasted another stone-flinger, this one dark and inactive, with the deadly fire only he could produce.

Suddenly, there was a loud whistling sound. The dragon turned his head, wondering what it could be, when-

_Whap!_

A tangle of tough-vines made by people and topped with stones entangled the Night Fury in their grasp. He wriggled and shrieked, but he was losing height. Fast. The tough-vines held his wings to his sides as he plummeted to the ground. The world was a blur. The dragon thrashed his tail, but only achieved a searing pain. As he fell, he thought he could hear a small shout of triumph from a young person.

_A YOUNG person?_

Before he could think of it any farther, the dragon hit the ground and knew no more.

* * *

><p>Pain. The Night Fury's entire world was full of it, especially the part of the world nearest to his tail. When he twitched it, he felt a wave of agony pulse from his left tail-fin, and something wet spread from the spot where it should have been. The tough-ropes must have torn it off.<p>

Where was he? He breathed a trickle of scents into his nose. Wood. Fresh air. Soil. He was in the forest. Surely one of the horned-people would find him. They would cut him into pieces and hang his head on the top of a people-nest. The dragon had seen it himself.

Something rustled off to his left. The scent of people flooded the air, touched with bear hide that the horned-people wore. This person smelled frightened, and his fast breathing caused tiny disturbances that the dragon's sharp hearing detected. Male. Young, by his scent. Why was he so frightened?

The Night Fury gathered the strength to raise his eyelids. He wished that he hadn't.

The young male was standing over him, brandishing a short sharp-stick with trembling hands. He smelled of horned-people, but wore nothing on his head. The dragon understood. The person was scared of him. Why should he be, though? He was tied up and lying on the ground. The Night Fury was being served to the person on an eating slab. The dragon stared him down, unwilling to be scared.

Surprisingly, the male person stared back, as though he was considering releasing him. He didn't dare think so, though. The male shifted his grip on the stick and, muttering to himself, raised it over his head. Now the dragon became frightened. He was going to be killed by a mere hatchling. He continued to gaze at the person, hoping he would dissuade him. The young male looked into the Night Fury's eyes, seeming almost remorseful. But then he broke the connection, shutting his eyes and lifting the sharp-stick higher.

It was over. The dragon let his head thump to the ground. He waited for the final pain, the final blow that would send him out of this realm. He waited for death.

Yet it didn't come. Instead, there was a _shush shush shush, snap; shush shush shush, snap; shush shush shush, snap._ The ropes loosened, and then he was free.

The Night Fury leaped up instantly, pinning the young male person to a large rock. He glared at him, breathing heavily. Fear-scent spilled through the air as the male realized he was at the other's mercy. The dragon's instinct roared at him to finish the person off. He wouldn't feel a thing. He opened his jaws, then, in a split second decision, screeched in the person's face, making the ground tremble slightly. The dragon leaped off of him, and flew haphazardly through the trees, his rent tail making it difficult to fly straight. He crashed, then tried again, then crashed a second time, shrieking all the while. He continued in this vein for some time, until the ground dropped from beneath him and he landed in a lush cove shrouded in mist.

The dragon shook his head, then tried to leap out. The walls of the cove came up to meet him, and he was slammed back. Trapped.


	2. Chapter 2

The prison was not serving the dragon well.

There were fish in the lake, but he had not learned how to fish. All of the animals worth eating were frightened away by his furious caterwauling he made when his frantic flapping did him no good. He could not have been there for more than a few hours, but it felt like several moon cycles to the Night Fury.

The next day dawned gray and cloudy. He shuddered when he thought of what the rest of the clan would say. What fate awaited him if he came back with nothing to offer, no food, no information on the doings of the horned-people? He wished, not for the first time, that he could leave the island to which he was bound. There was nowhere to go, and there was no time to explore the waters around the nest. The worst part was that because he could not see past the walls of stone, he had no clue where he was. He blasted a spot on the ground in frustration. One more time. Then he could try climbing. As a dragon, doing anything on the ground was unthinkable, even shameful. Dragons were creatures of the sky. The Night Fury crouched down, wiggled his haunches, and leapt into the air. The flow of currents kept him airborne for a few seconds, but then he became unbalanced and smacked into the ground for the seventeenth time. He flopped to the earth in exhaustion, staring into the crystal pool. A fish broke the surface of the water, and he crept to the edge, watching a particularly plump one float lazily just beneath the surface. The dragon snapped at it, but he was too slow. The fish darted away, leaving his teeth to close on water.

Taking his head out of the water, he heard a clattering sound. The dragon's ears told him it was a sticklike object, and it had fallen from about three tail-lengths high. He lifted his head and saw the young male person. The same one as the day before. The one who had almost killed him. But he didn't. The male peered cautiously at the Night Fury, probably waiting for him to pounce. But he hadn't seen him fly, and fail to. Had he?

* * *

><p>The following day was the same as before: jump, fly, crash, roar, then blast a scorch mark in the ground and do it all over again. It had rained the night before, and everything was wet and slippery. However, he was thinking about something entirely different than before. The dragon, while licking his tail clean of dried blood, was pondering the appearances of the young not-horned-person. Why did he keep coming back? Surely it was not entertaining to watch a dragon attempt a few pathetic flights again and again. Perhaps he was relaying information to the rest of his clan, much as the Night Fury did in his own. It was the perfect opportunity, to kill a downed dragon. That must be it. After coming to a conclusion, he quite put the thought out of his mind.<p>

Then, while he was exploring the surrounding rock, he saw a fish fly out from behind a boulder. It had the smell of horned-people on it. Or, more specifically, the young male not-horned person. This time, he would not make it so easy. The dragon climbed onto a protrusion of rock, which gave him a good view of the young male stalking the green grass that surrounded the pool. In one foreleg, he held the delicious-smelling fish. His mouth watering, the dragon stepped over the rock and silently moved behind him. The person must have seen movement, though, and whipped around with an intake of air to face him. The male carefully held out the food.

The dragon widened his eyes, and moved forward to take it. But then he remembered the short sharp-stick the person had, and drew back, snarling.

Reading his mind, the person took back the fish and moved aside his extra pelt to show the sharp-stick. His forefoot hovered by it uncertainly, but when the dragon growled again, he removed it loosely and tossed it to the ground.

Still distrustful, the Night Fury jerked his head towards the lake, indicating that he should throw it in. The male did so with his foot.

He sat back, satisfied at last and with a more friendly disposition to the person. The male offered the fish to him again. The dragon crept forward, sniffing the air. He retracted his teeth-a special feature of his own-and reached for the fish with his jaws.

The male squinted at his missing fangs, and said something garbled in people-speak that sounded like, "Toothlis? I kuduv sworn yu had-"

He flashed his teeth out and swallowed the fish whole, licking his chops.

"-teeth," the person finished.

The dragon sniffed around the pelt that hung on the person's lanky frame. All smoke and no more fish.

"No!" the person said, frightened. "No, no, I don't hav ani moor!"

He was backed up against a rock now. The dragon cocked his head slightly. It was rude to eat in front of the male when he had none. Primeval as he may be, he was not one to abandon his manners. He squeezed his first stomach, which still contained the fish, and regurgitated half of the fish into the person's forefeet.

"Ugh," the male said, making a face.

The Night Fury backed up and waited for the person to eat his share. The young one didn't eat, but merely sat there, looking uncomfortable. The dragon looked down at the fish tail and back up. Letting out a breath, the person lifted the fish to his mouth and took a large bite. The dragon made a happy purr. But the male was still not eating it. The dragon swallowed, trying to send him a message. The hatchling swallowed his mouthful of fish, shaking his head and making noises of disgust. But he had swallowed. Then, he did a peculiar thing. He lifted the corners of his mouth, showing his teeth, which were blunt like rocks. The Night Fury narrowed his eyes, wondering if it was a sign of aggression, but the male generated well-being. Perhaps this was a means of communication. He attempted to do the same, pulling his mouth into what he hoped was the same sign. The young person looked awed. _What? Thought I couldn't do it?_

The hatchling stretched his hand out, and that was when the dragon took offense. He just didn't trust him enough for contact. He growled, then leaped across the lake, gliding as best as he could. By now the sun was setting, casting a pink light over everything. A stream of fire ran from his mouth, scoring a circle in the ground as he settled in for the night. Small flutters and tweets were coming from a nearby tree, and the dragon watched as a tiny bird flew overhead. Oh, what it must be like to be free… he looked down and saw the hatchling. Again. Exasperated, the Night Fury turned until his tail faced the person, which was considered extremely rude in the dragon world. But that didn't deter the young one. The dragon heard him scraping over the ground, getting closer and closer to the fan-like tail in front of him, until the Night Fury lifted it and stared at him. They both crept off in opposite directions. It was time for a nap.

However, he didn't sleep long. He was awakened by the scraping of a stick in the dirt. The hatchling was making lines in the ground. How unusual. The dragon came over to watch.

If the person knew he was there, he did not acknowledge him. He continued to make what looked like the reflection the dragon saw every time he looked into the pool. A bad reflection, but he figured that people didn't have very good eyesight. The dragon decided to try it, too. After all, he would need to learn to inscribe dragon runes someday, and this was a good start.

Walking away, he examined the trees around him. He needed one with no branches and a sharp point. Just like…that one. He uprooted the stick of a tree and dragged it over to the hatchling, leaving a wavy line behind him. Too bad his feet weren't the right shape to hold it. This was harder than it looked. A wavy line here…then there…and then a dot. As the dragon spun around with the tree, he accidentally clubbed the hatchling in the head. Oops.

Finally, the Night Fury was done. He sat back on his haunches and admired his work. Not quite like he wanted it, but it was a start. The young person stood on his hind legs and looked around at the scratches the dragon had made on the ground. He took a step onto his work, and the dragon growled, warning him to get off. The no-horn did, but then stepped on it again. And again. _Is this some kind of a game to you? _

The young male made his way through the twists and turns of the dragon's would-be runes, coming closer and closer until-

_Huff._

The person turned around when he felt breath on the back of his neck. They stood face-to-face for a few moments, and the male lifted his foot up to the Night Fury. The dragon rumbled a few times, and the person took his foot away. He broke eye contact, and lifted his foreleg up one more time.

The dragon gazed at the proffered person-foot, and did something no dragon had ever done before.

He touched it.

He felt the foot shrink back a bit, as though it were expecting a violent move. But when the two looked at each other, they realized that each could never hurt the other.

_Friends? _the person's eyes asked.

_Friends, _answered the dragon.


	3. Chapter 3

**I hear you guys like the story. This goes more in-depth to Toothless' background and who raised him. Enjoy, and remember, I love reviews! Please give feedback to tell me how I'm doing.**

That night, the dragon was almost caught.

He was entirely off guard when there came flapping noises from the sky. _Dragons!_ He thought, and ran under cover. Not a moment too soon, either. He spotted a pair of brown-knobs buzz overhead, and somehow the Night Fury knew that they were looking for him. But they didn't see him, and the rest of the night was uneventful, save for a few metallic bangs coming from the horned-people's dens.

Dawn the next day was cloudy, as usual. It would clear up soon. The sun broke through a hole in the clouds, and for a moment the person-island was flooded with golden light. It was so much brighter than the dragon-island, shrouded in fog and black stone. The dragon marveled at the sight, realizing how beautiful the sun could be. Then the moment passed, the sun disappeared, and the dragon spent the next few minutes attempting to catch fish.

He wished that the hatchling would come back. He had fish. They didn't taunt him with their sharp reflexes.

"Hay, Tooothlis…"

It was the not-horned person! And he smelled of food!

He had to admit it: without this hatchling, he would be dying of starvation right now. He was carrying a whole plant-weave-holder full of his favorite food. He was also holding a sort of folded up wing. While he dug his face into the fish, the person crept behind the dragon. He thought nothing of it—until he felt something heavy on his tail being tightened.

The dragon felt something he had not felt in days. Balance. Could it be?

He shot up into the air, wings pumping harder than he had ever worked them before. The person was yelling back on the ground. He started to fall, then jerked back into the air inexplicably.

He was flying! He relished the feeling of the wind on his scales, realizing how much he had missed being able to…well, be a dragon. There were few thermals rising from the stone-gray sea, and the dragon's wings made miniscule adjustments to the gentle winds. Banking a wide turn, he flapped back to the cove and skimmed the surface of the lake.

"Yes! Yes, I did it!"

_What?_ The Night Fury turned around as best he could and saw the not-horned person clinging to his tail. Flinging his tail, he sent the person flying across the lake and landing with an impressive splash. But the dragon's momentary balance disappeared with the no-horn. The Night Fury crashed in the lake, all bubbles and foam. He shook his wings, irritated. It didn't look like he was going to be rid of the young person anytime soon.

But, for some reason, Toothless didn't mind at all.

* * *

><p>Later that day, after the person had left, Toothless (who had adopted the name from the human) was contemplating the person-speak. He understood "Toothless", which meant the person was talking to him. He had heard the person say "fish" a few times, and when he did, there was always fish smell around. So that was what that was…but it would take a while to interpret the other sounds.<p>

What was he _doing?_ He had always been taught on the dragon-island never to have contact with a person, and here he was, learning their _language!_ He wished his mother was still alive, to teach him what he should do. But there was a certain rule that had to be followed. Toothless remembered the discussion vividly…

_The melt-rock belched sparks around them, reflecting in the horn-dragon's slit-pupiled eyes…it was too hot for the young dragon. The buzz of other dragons flying and talking swirled in his ears, some words foreign to him. _

"_Why c-can't leave?" he asked in his imperfect dragon-speak._

"_Too dangerous," the horn-dragon rumbled. He had cared for the young Night Fury since he was a hatchling, had taught him how to fly and talk. He looked over the melt-rock warily, looking for the Great One. The other dragons were keeping her well fed, bringing fresh meat from the person-island. He turned back to the dragon. "Horned-people will kill, stab with sharp sticks. They will kill you, young one. You must stay in the dragon's nest, and leave only in the dead of the night." The old horn-dragon shifted his weight off of the stump of a leg he had gotten while attacking the horn-people's dens._

"_Too many r-r-rules," the Night Fury said sulkily. "Where dragon m-mother?"_

"_Mother dead," the horn-dragon said shortly. "Only one Night Fury at a time. More, we kill."_

"_Wh-wh-why?"_

"_Tradition." The older dragon's voice hummed in the Night Fury's chest. "That is why we do not give name to you. Why need name when you have your heritage?" His golden wings rustled as he chuckled._

Toothless shivered with the barbarity of it all. The dragon clan had killed his mother simply because tradition demanded it so. Over his years living there, Toothless had also learned that the tradition had been started by the Great One who had bred dragons in the very first days. Night Furies were very powerful. Too powerful to keep more than one.

Toothless was defying tradition by accepting a name. It wouldn't hurt to defy it more by learning how people worked.

Suddenly, the dragon detected some sort of acrid stench. Two-head gas! They had come to get him! Toothless dove for cover under a large overhang and looked around frantically. _Hide hide hide have to hide hide where dragons where where hide hide…!_

It was only the young hatchling, reeking of two-head gas. Toothless gagged, and crept out slowly to meet him. The no-horn was carrying a sort of long vine. After feeding him a bit of fish, the person laid the vine across Toothless' back in many different ways. Toothless waited patiently, but eventually snorted and tossed his wings around, throwing off the vine.

"Toothless," the person scolded. He got the vine back and coiled it up like a snake and hid it in his pelt. They spent the rest of the unusually hot afternoon sitting together, the young male scratching Toothless' neck. Toothless realized that he enjoyed people company. He vaguely wondered why the hatchling smelled of two-head gas, but decided that it was just a coincidence and lay his head on the ground, humming.

Over the next couple of days, the no-horn hatchling came every afternoon with a myriad of surprises. The day after the two-head gas, he arrived with a sort of leather topscale. When the young hatchling moved to place it on Toothless' back, Toothless teased him by snatching the topscale from him and running around just out of reach of the no-horn. He played for a while, then became bored and dropped it at the person's feet. The person attached it to Toothless' back, running straps around his middle and chest. It did not bother Toothless—he could hardly tell it was there—but the intended use of it did. The no-horn person meant to fly on his back! Toothless was appalled until he convinced himself with a harsh, _If you don't let him fly, you certainly won't be able to._ That settled the moral argument in his mind, and he permitted the hatchling to mount him. They tried to fly in this manner until, several wet and rather bruising crashes later, they relented and the young person left, taking the topscale with him.

The day following that one, the hatchling returned with the topscale. Toothless learned on that subsequent day from the person that it was called a _saddle._ It was a funny name for a flap of leather, but Toothless called it as such from then on. They flew another test flight, this time leaving the cove for a bit. They landed in a field of grass that Toothless immediately took a liking to, rubbing and rolling himself in it. It smelled and felt terrific on his leathery scales. The hatchling seemed to be getting an idea; he got that look on his face when he was thinking very hard. He picked a bit of the grass, keeping it in his leg-pelt.

Over the next few days he came later than usual, covered in many different scents. Toothless would sniff him, and then they would fly together or just enjoy each others' company. Once, he heard the thuds of a dragon-cleaver, and became nervous and twitchy while he waited for the young male to come. Toothless nearly bowled him over when he finally did arrive, relieved that he was all right.

Toothless' favorite memories of those days included the time when he found a strange creature on the ground, flat and white that could climb any surface; the instance where the no-horn had given him the best scratching yet; and, his favorite, when the hatchling had tied the saddle to a tall stick in the ground and they had flown in place, testing the new foot-tail-mover that the person had created. However, the tie to the stick had snapped, sending Toothless and his rider reeling backwards into the trees behind them. The person tried to yank free of the saddle, but he couldn't for some unknown reason. The person had ended up dragging Toothless to the horned-people dens, which Toothless found extremely interesting. Who knew that horned-people had slabs of wood in the mouths of their dens? Or that they kept sheep in the middle of a circle made of sticks? It was all very new and exciting to Toothless. The young male no-horn had avoided any horned-people he saw, most of which were carrying burning sticks of fire. Toothless was led to a dark den full of metal and the smell of ash and one horned-person in particular, not the young male. While the person pulled desperately at the saddle, Toothless heard a high voice make a strange noise, something like, "Hikup?"

The male jumped so suddenly, Toothless thought he had been bitten. He clambered out of the den and began chattering to another horned-person, this one female, if the scent was anything to go by. Toothless poked his head around the open mouth of the den to see when he spotted a sheep, all by itself, eating grass slowly. The sheep looked up and froze with fear when it was Toothless. His stomach growled; he had not eaten anything but fish and the occasional bird for a long time. Toothless began pulling at the vine that bound him to the no-horn to reach the sheep. The vine held, jerked, then gave way as the young no-horn suddenly appeared and leaped onto his back. He urged Toothless away from the sheep and to the edge of the dens. Reluctantly, Toothless left as fast as he dared without alarming any horned-people and launched himself into the sky. It was going to be a long night.


	4. Chapter 4

The wind howled in Toothless' ears. He felt excited and energized. The sea was far below them, and the island behind. Toothless made adjustments to the sudden gusts of air and looked back at the hatchling on his back.

It was the first time either of them had flown together at this height. They had done short test flights before, but none so precarious. The young person shifted and yelled, "We're going to take this nice and slow, all right?"

Toothless felt the tail flap open, and he felt a surge of joy to be flying again. He started with a wide turn, testing the feel and weight of the person-tail. It was heavy, but he supposed that was because he had not had his own in a while. _All right, _he thought,_ let's try something a bit more daring. _He then took a steep dive, roaring in triumph. It was working! A few birds flew away in alarm high above him, but he took no notice to such lowly creatures. Finally, he was back among the clouds, where he belonged. The person was no lighter than a fish on his back, strong as he was. Toothless screwed up his face against the wind and dipped his wings in the cold ocean as he flapped his wings up and down. A rock pillar loomed in front of him, but he could dodge that easily…

_Thump!_ Toothless slammed solidly into the stone, despite doing everything he could to turn. "Sorry!" the person shouted, and Toothless remembered: he could not turn without the hatchling's help. He promptly thudded into another stone tower, scraping off a few pebbles as he went by. He smacked the person upside the face with one of his floppy ears. "Yeah, yeah, I'm on it," the no-horn said. Then he flipped the tail-foot-mover into a position that made them begin to rise up into the clouds.

Scraps of moisture ran their cold claws across Toothless' face as he shot straight up, pumping his wings. His joy at soaring into the sky flew as fast as he did, and he screeched again. The no-horn person yelled too, and as they emerged from the clouds, he lurched backwards and his weight disappeared. Toothless stopped at the height of his climb, becoming weightless as gravity took its hold back. Toothless was surprised to see the hatchling floating above him, and nowhere in his seat.

Toothless panicked. He began to fall, and the person could not break it. He watched the sea become slowly less and less distant. He thrashed and whined in the empty air. The person tried to awkwardly fall next to him so that he could reach the tail-foot-mover and save them. But, quite by accident, Toothless' wing came swinging around and pushed him away, nearly throwing him into a solid stone structure. Toothless was spinning out of control; the wind was veering him towards the side of the mountain that dominated the horned-people island. Just then, he felt a scrabbling on his back, and then the male hatchling seized the saddle on Toothless' back. They began to dive instead of fall, and Toothless flared out his wings to send them forward, not down.

The strain was immediate and painful. Toothless screeched in a hoarse cry that seemed to scrape the inside of his throat. He hardly slowed down at all. The membranes on his wings would surely rip. The male hatchling began switching his foot around. Toothless could see his pattern and went with the flow of the clicks and swerved around a forest of stone pillars shrouded in fog. They settled into a single force, a team. Toothless could sense the hatchling's every move, and the hatchling in turn could see his own.

They emerged from the rocks in one piece. The no-horn roared in triumph as they hovered over the water. Toothless let out a burst of fire in his excitement. The cloud of flames stood still in the air. Toothless flew right through it, and was unharmed. The hatchling growled. Oops. He had forgotten that people weren't fireproof.

They settled down on a platform. Toothless waited until the not-horned-person was ready, and they set off again, trying to fish. Toothless caught a good haul, and he stored his catch in his first stomach to eat when they landed. The hatchling began creating a pile of wood sticks. What in the world was he doing? He found a piece of his pelt that was still smoldering and touched it to the pile. A fire flared into existence, crackling and flickering. The hatchling held a fish over the fire with a long stick while Toothless regurgitated his meal.

The smell was strong, though; it attracted a horde of small-wings. Toothless placed his paws over his meal, growling protectively. This was _his _food. However, the puny small-wings were persistent in their task, and they managed to sneak a few fish. One even stole a fish by disguising himself as one, not fooling Toothless for a second. They wrestled for the fish, and then Toothless overpowered the smaller dragon. The fish disappeared down his gullet and he teased the small-wing, chuckling at it. The small-wing, not to be outdone, gaped his jaws wide open, and just before it scorched Toothless, the Night Fury blew a blob of fire down the small-wing's throat.

Toothless nearly fell over the edge laughing; the small-wing bloated as big as a boulder, deflated, and landed in a heap. It stumbled to a standing position, smoking from the mouth, and tottered off, looking bemused. The no-horn laughed too, and tossed the scorched small-wing a small fish. It ate greedily, gulping it down whole. Toothless watched, slightly jealous, as the small-wing curled up next to his hatchling.

Eventually it became late, and the young no-horn had to leave. They enjoyed the sun's fading warmth suspended in the sky, then landed under the cover of darkness back in the cove. It seemed so small and confining to Toothless after having been falling in the air only hours before. He whined a bit, wanting the hatchling to stay, but he left anyways. _Hmmph._

* * *

><p>The next morning, gray and cloudy once more, Toothless decided to bathe himself. When he got out of the water, he heard the sound of boots scraping over rock, echoing around the cove, not the hatchling, Toothless knew. It was too early for him to come back. Which could only mean one thing: he had been discovered.<p>

Quickly, he hid in the shadows of his sleeping-spot. It was another young no-horn, only this one was female. Her fur was the color of dirty flowers, and she held a large dragon-cleaver. The dragon's heart pounded. Her scent reminded him of the similar smell that the other male no-horn had come back with on his pelt, many times, and the smell at the horned-people dens during his brief nightly visit. She was searching the place with growing awe. A smile (he had learned the word for it) grew on her flat face, and she sat on a huge rock by the pond.

Soon after, the male hatchling came into the cove. The horned-person wandered around, searching for Toothless in the cove. He was holding a large basket, and the words that came out of his mouth were ones like "leaving" and "forever". Toothless did not know the meaning of forever; it was a new word to him. He longed to warn him about the female, but in doing so he would risk the wrath of the other no-horn. Toothless could tell she was trouble. He watched as he found the she-person on the rock. Toothless' hackles rose as she began roaring at him in a high-pitched voice. The pair came nearer and nearer to Toothless' hiding place. The male became flustered; he was trying to hide Toothless. Then, all of a sudden, she lashed out and twisted his foreleg into an unnatural position. He crumpled to the ground, and she brought the end of the dragon-cleaver down on his middle with a loud _whump_.

That was IT. Toothless screeched, and the she-person looked up, startled. The jet-black dragon began to charge her. Nobody hurt the male hatchling._ Nobody._ Leaping into the air, he was about to land on her when she brought up her dragon-cleaver to his throat. It was too late to change course.

"NOOOO!" The young male tackled her and flung the deadly weapon away. He stood between Toothless and the female, talking in a calming voice. Toothless heard the word "friend" and settled down, but was still mistrustful of the would-be killer. The male attempted to reason with the female, but in Toothless' rage, he only caught a few words. The female said the words "who" and "him."

The male stood up straighter. "Astrid," he said, gesturing to the no-horn, "Toothless," he said, pointing at the dragon. "Toothless, Astrid," he said in a reproving voice to Toothless, and he snarled at the female. She shook her head at the male, then ran off. Pleased with himself, Toothless stumped off, back to the bath in which he had been so rudely interrupted.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, where do you think you're going?" the male called after him. Toothless snorted and stopped, sitting down.

"We have to get her," the no-horn hatchling said. "She'll tell the village. They'll find you and _kill_ you, Toothless."

_Gggrrrrupph,_ Toothless growled, displeased. But he let the hatchling on his back. They launched into the air, perfectly at ease with the sky now. The dragon spotted the female person running through the woods, looking behind her to make sure she wasn't being followed. _Stupid female,_ Toothless thought scathingly. _Why would we follow her on _foot?

"Pick her up," the male said. "We need her someplace where she can't run off."

Toothless chuckled. He had the _perfect_ place. In a single swoop, he dived, caught the person in mid-leap over a log, and rose into the air again. She screeched with fear and tried to cling to his leg. Before her weight could drag them down, he soared up to the tallest pine tree around and dropped her on a branch. Toothless landed beside her.

She made a loud noise that sounded like, "Hikup!" once more. She seemed to be addressing the male hatchling. Was that his name? "Get me down from here!"

"You have to give me a chance to explain!"

"I am not listening to _anything _you have to say!" She began to inch across the branch to the main trunk.

"Then I won't speak." The female stopped moving. "Just let me show you."

The other hatchling considered the options, eyes on the ground. Toothless shifted his weight on the bark, claws scraping.

"Please, Astrid."

Finally, the female (Astrid, she must be called) climbed up the branch and heaved herself up onto the Night Fury's back. He snarled at her, warning her not to try anything funny. "Now get me down," she said, her voice shaking.

Hikup (or was it Hiccup?) patted Toothless' side. "Toothless," he said cheerfully, "down. Gently."

Toothless' wings snapped open. They were still for a moment. "See?" Hiccup said to Astrid. "Nothing to worry about."

Toothless flung himself into the air. The two people on his back became weightless as he reached the zenith of his ascent. The female was screeching hysterically.

"Toothless! What's wrong with you! Bad dragon!" Hiccup yelled. "He's not usually like this—oh, no."

Toothless wrapped himself in his wings and plummeted down to the sea. They were underwater for a brief second, then surfaced. Toothless glided along the waves, jumping in and out of the water.

"Toothless, what are you doing? We need her to _like _us!" Toothless shook his head free of water, his ears flapping against the saddle. They went up again, and Toothless spun in crazy circles as they fell once more.

"All right," Astrid gasped. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Just get me off of this thing."

With the world whirling around them, Toothless considered. Then, he flung his wings open, abruptly stopping his fall and floated upwards. The sun was afire in the sky, staining the clouds orange and pink. It was beautiful; a contrast to the wild mood Toothless had set.

He felt the two on his back loosen up as he glided along gently through the clouds. The fear of the female dissipated into wonder. Toothless circled the pink cloud once, amid a world of tall pillars and rolling hills, all made out of the soft white stuff. He tried to make up for his behavior earlier, which he vaguely wondered where _that_ had come from.

Rising above the flat ceiling of white, they found themselves in an expanse of silver clouds. Overhead, tiny stars sparkled, looking closer than they ever had before. A rainbow of lights flowed like water around them, reflecting in the clouds. The cloud-ground ended in the air, revealing the entire people-island in all of its otherworldly glory. The torches burned in their holders, which stood inside the horned-people's giant statues. Toothless wove in between them, feeling the cool air of the night set in. He kept an eye out for other dragons, just in case. He felt a curious feeling emitting from the two no-horns above him. He had never felt it before, but it made his heart race and his mind full of bliss. Strange.

"All right, I admit it," Astrid spoke up. "This is pretty cool. It's…amazing." Toothless felt a hand on his side. "He's amazing."

The mood turned serious as Hiccup and Astrid began to talk. Toothless listened sleepily, until he felt something. Something stirred inside of him, a terrifyingly powerful force. He heard the buzzing, the flapping.

_Go._

Toothless struggled against the feeling. It drew him to the bank of fog below them. His pupils contracted with fear, and something older and stronger. Instinct.

_Go to the nest. Feed the Great One._

_No,_ Toothless said inside his head. _NO!_

_GO._

It was too strong. Toothless succumbed to the dragon within him, the feelings that his ancestors had planted in him. He took a sideways dive, into the fog. Instinct pounded through his entire being, erasing all memory and feeling.

_GO. GO. GO. GO…_

"Toothless, what's going on?" He felt Hiccup's hand on his side, but he shook it away. He was Toothless…a Night Fury…no, Toothless….

_I am loyal. I serve the Great One with all my mind and strength. I kill horned people before they kill me. I…am…a…DRAGON!_

It was too late to turn back; dragons surrounded him, barely noticing him, for instinct had taken them as well. They carried fish, milk-horn-beasts, and sheep, all dead. All food for the Great One.

_GO. GO. GO._

They plunged into a fiery hole of melt-rock; the dragon's nest. Here, dragons were perched on various crevices and caves around a gigantic hole. The Great One lived there, demanding food or death. If they did not prove themselves useful to the Great One, she would make them useful.

The instinct was even stronger here. _Give food. Give food…_

_But I have nothing to give! _the dragon protested.

_Yes. The people. The no-horns…give them up…prove your devotion, your loyalty…just tip them side ways, dump them in._

_No!_

_YES. FEED. FEED. PEOPLE MUST DIE._

_NO! _Toothless broke free of the fervor, the power. He banked away from the glowing hole.

_Then you will DIE! _the instinct roared before fading away completely. Toothless panted as he landed on a platform high up in the cave, and with a good view of the exit. Now, to find the way out of here…

"Well, it's satisfying to know that all of our food has been dumped down a hole," Hiccup said distantly from Toothless' back.

"They're not eating any of it," Astrid agreed. They watched as a brown-knob buzzed unsteadily over the Great One's hole. He regurgitated a small fish from his earlier meal. He panted happily, scratching his ear, when a loud grumble echoed up from the void below him. The brown-knob paused, then drifted lazily away.

There was an enormous rumble, and the Great One herself appeared from her hole, swallowing the brown-knob whole. Toothless winced.

"What was that?" Astrid whispered to Hiccup.

"Toothless, we gotta get out of here." Toothless was frozen. The Great One had found him with her beady eyes. "_Traitor,"_ she rumbled._ "You were gone. You made friends with humans._ _You will DIE."_

"Now!" Hiccup shouted, as the Great One struck. Her jaws clamped down where Toothless had been mere seconds ago. He took flight as the rest of the dragons panicked. They flew up in a spiraling swarm as the Great one roared furiously. Her cry sounded through the night, after Toothless, who flew far, far away. Still, he would never get away from those nightmarish eyes. They would haunt him for as long as he lived.

_Traitor._


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Well, this one is really short because there are some awkward breaks in the story. But the next one will be longer, and I hope you enjoy this one while you wait! Have fun, and remember, R&R please!**

Toothless landed back in the cove, bounding a few feet to regain his balance. The encounter had shaken him like nothing else had. The two no-horn hatchlings dismounted, talking loudly. Toothless lapped water out of the pool.

The pair seemed to be arguing something. Astrid said, "Hiccup, we just discovered the dragons' _nest_. The thing we've been after since Vikings first sailed here. And you want to keep it a secret? To protect your pet dragon? Are you serious?"

Hiccup's demeanor changed dramatically. He turned and faced the female, standing straight and looking dead serious. "Yes," he said quietly but clearly.

The female realized that she had tread on forbidden ground. The incredulous look melted off her face, and she said, "All right. Then what do we do?"

"Just give me until tomorrow. I'll figure something out."

There was a pause. Then Astrid struck the male on the arm. Hard. Toothless looked up, eyes narrowed.

"That's for kidnapping me."

Hiccup looked back at Toothless, making a _Can you believe this?_ face. Then the female did something strange. She grabbed Hiccup by the shirt, touched her mouth to his face, and said, "That's for everything else." She ran off, not looking back.

Toothless poked his head next to Hiccup.

"What are you looking at?" the hatchling muttered. He walked through the rocks, leaving the cove. Why did he look so distressed?

Toothless was tired the next day from their midnight excursion, so he napped most of the day. The air was quiet, peaceful, even. It was rather warm, but Toothless enjoyed it, laying out in the middle of the cove to soak up the sun's rays.

A distant yell shattered the silence. It was punctuated by furious roars and the shouts of horned-people. One in particular was very loud, but all Toothless heard were the terrible screeches.

Hiccup.

Fast as thought, Toothless raced to the wall. He had never been successful in scaling it before. But he had to get to Hiccup. He could be dying. His claws latched onto the stone with an urgency he had never felt before. A sense of protectiveness overwhelmed him, and he welcomed it, for it fueled his race to get his hatchling.

Finally, out of the cove, he darted through the woods, attempting to fly, but he could not fly without his friend.

_Hiccup! Hiccup! HICCUP!_

He followed the noises to a large metal-and-rock enclosure, surrounded by horned-people. His fear was strong, but his worry was stronger. Worry that the horn-dragon chasing the hatchling around the cage would catch him and eat the person in a single bite. There was a sort of metal vine that covered the top of the cage. That was no problem. Taking flight—or at least gliding—he took careful aim.

_HhhrrrrrreeeeeeeeeeeFFOOOMM!_ Toothless blasted a hole into the metal with an explosion of smoke and fire. Darting into it, he saw that the horn-dragon had the male person trapped under its claws. He spotted the female, Astrid, watching from the side next to an enormous horn-person that seemed to be the den leader. All of this he saw in a split second, and, roaring furiously, he pounced on the horn-dragon. Toothless sunk his teeth into the other and yanked him off of Hiccup. Scrabbling, the horn-dragon pinned Toothless, but the Night Fury snapped at his neck, scraping scales and flesh, and the horn-dragon got off, screeching. Toothless backed up and spread his wings, hiding Hiccup from the horn-dragon. It leaped forward, but Toothless thwarted its every attempt, roaring, "_Back! Get back, you pathetic earth-crawler!"_ The horn-dragon had been cooped up for so long in the horned-people's cage, it had quite forgotten how to speak the dragon tongue. It was still infuriated by his tone, however, and backed off once Toothless had proven himself dominant.

Victorious, he turned to Hiccup and nosed him for injuries. "Go, get out of here, Toothless!" Hiccup yelled. Horned-people were pouring into the cage, dragon-cleavers and sharp-sticks waving. "Get out of here!" Toothless ignored him, staying by his side. The enormous horned-person he had seen earlier was charging them. Toothless felt another wave of protectiveness, and he bared his teeth at the horn-person.

"No, Dad, no, he won't hurt you!" Hiccup was calling as Toothless pounced towards the charging figure, knocking other people out of his way. They rolled three times. The horned-person lost his dragon-cleaver. Toothless reared his head back, green wisps of flammable smoke curling out of his mouth. He was about to ignite them when—

"NOOOOO!" It was Hiccup. Toothless swallowed the green smoke, looking back curiously. They did look somewhat familiar together. And the scent…

A ferocious blow to his head sent his thoughts spinning like driftwood. Stunned, he was unable to defend himself as five horned-people piled on him, holding his wings and mouth closed. Hiccup was near hysteria; the female no-horn was holding him back, preventing him from making matters worse. Toothless was at the mercy of the horned-people.

Hiccup was dragged away by what Toothless began to guess was his father. Toothless was dragged in the opposite direction by heavy hands. The last thing he saw before they cast him into a dark, damp cave was Hiccup's streaming tears.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Aaaaand, here we are! The final chapter of Httyd through Toothless' eyes. Hope you like it, and please review: comments, complaints, chatter, cease-and-desist letters, anything! I like feedback!**

Toothless was alone.

He couldn't hear anything but his own panicked breathing. They had fitted a leather band over his mouth, so however hard he tried, he could not open his jaws to simply blast the door off of its hinges. He missed Hiccup more than anything; to be parted from him hurt just as bad as losing his tail. Toothless moaned and growled, but nobody came, not even to shut him up.

Then, finally, the doors opened to admit a gloomy gray light. But it wasn't Hiccup, come to rescue him so they could escape together. It was more male horned-people and their rough, brutal hands. They fitted a rope around his neck so he could not fly or run away. They pulled him across rocks and dirt to an enormous floating piece of wood. A huge tree rose in the middle on it, and a dragon's wing hung from the branches. It flapped noisily in the wind as Toothless was pulled onto another smaller piece of wood and bolted down with metal vines. The young male hatchling was nowhere in sight or scent. Toothless vaguely felt himself rising as he thrashed around on his vines. Soon he was on the ship, and Hiccup's father stood beside him. The enormous floating wood-tree began to move.

"Lead us home," the horned-person-Hiccup-father hissed. "Devil."

Toothless thrashed in his vines and wood for the first part of the journey, but a while later he stopped and hung his head. Maybe Hiccup would come. Maybe he would bring a sharp-stick and Astrid and he would defeat his father. Then they would all fly away, somewhere where the Great One and the Hiccup-father would not find them.

The feeling. It overrode his senses, caused him to look up, feral once more.

_Go._

His ears quivered as they picked up thousands of buzzes and growls and flappings. They were close. He turned his head to the noise, and the float-wood turned in that direction as well. Then, he picked up a second, stronger signal, and turned in that direction instead. The float-wood changed direction.

_I'm leading them to the nest! The Great One will—_Toothless didn't even want to think of what the Great One would do to him if they touched shore there. But the only place Toothless had possession of himself was in his head. They continued in this fashion: Toothless would hear the dragons buzzing and clicking overhead, and the float-wood would follow his lead. Toothless' dread increased with every tail-length.

They banged against the shore of the nest. The stone cliff loomed out of the fog without warning. Toothless thrashed to free himself, to satisfy the ancient desire within him to feed. But he was no more free than he was before. Toothless kept Hiccup's round, flat face in his head to steel himself. _I have to get back to him!_ The horned-people began to jump off of the float-wood and plant sharp sticks in the ground._ They're leaving. If I could just get this band off, I could leave and get Hiccup before they know I'm gone. _But Toothless could think of no way to reach his mouth. His feet were strapped to the wood. If only he had some blasted hands!

Toothless became aware that it had fallen silent on the shore of the dragons' nest. Hiccup-father stood in front of the impassable stone cliff. He raised his dragon-crusher, and the huge piles of wood on either side of Toothless shot boulders as large as he was at the cliff. The wall crumpled like a dragon wing folding, and all that was left was a gaping tunnel. They had found the bolt-hole.

Another boulder was shot, but this one was on fire. It was obviously meant to light the tunnel, for it sailed past the walls without hitting anything.

The sides of the tunnel were _covered_ in dragons. It looked like the walls were living, there were so many. Toothless hoped they were in a bad mood.

No such luck. As Hiccup-father roared and charged into the tunnel, the dragons surged forth in a cloud of scales and wings. They left from the top of the nest, and the side, and, in the case of several water-dragons, out the bottom and into the water. Toothless tried to make himself smaller, whining.

Soon, the dragons' nest was empty. _Well, _Toothless mused, _almost empty. _They had no clue what was next, those horned-people. They were cheering, but underneath the cheering, Toothless heard and felt a rumble. It was his worst nightmare, to be trapped in front of the Great One in her rage. He tried to back up in vain. His wooden collar thumped against the frame of his small-wood-piece, drawing the attention of the Hiccup-father. "This isn't over!" he shouted. "Form your ranks! Hold together!"

A titanic bellow erupted from the tunnel, sending a blast of air across the crowd of the horned-people. The float-woods moved backwards on the water. Toothless was in a frenzy, trying to free himself before the Great One arrived. The ground shook ridiculously, and the tunnel began to collapse. The Hiccup-father leaped backwards and gestured wildly to his fellow horned-people to get back.

The Great One exploded out of the tunnel amid a torrent of debris. Toothless had seen her head before, but not her entirety. She was blue, with hundreds of knobby bumps encasing her body. A bony frill crested her head above her roving six eyes, mouth crowded with teeth as big as trees and a severe underbite. Stumpy feet ended in long, thin claws, and her wings were folded tightly across her back. A crusher-like tail swung from side to side, demolishing the rock behind her. Toothless had always thought that female meant delicate and slim, but this was not the case. Despite being powerful, she was severely obese, the result of millennia of demanding food from her children. Her limbs were thick and clumsy, and Toothless doubted that she would be able to use her wings, big as they were. Still, her presence meant the doom of them all. He gave up trying to escape and desperately hoped that Hiccup would miraculously show up, or that the Great One would keel over dead, or anything else, anything other than this.

The mass of horned-people ran towards the boats. Toothless was relieved. They would sail away once they realized that the attack was useless, taking him with them. Maybe they would release him so he could fly away with Hiccup. His heart beat faster as he willed the people and their short legs to run faster. They were too slow, however. The Great One saw their plan of escape, and, opening jaws big enough to swallow a whole float-wood, let a torrent of fire sweep across the water. The float-woods caught fire like dry grass, trapping Toothless. The fire threatened him with tongues of heat, lapping at the floor of the float-wood.

The horned-people began to move as one big mass. They seemed to be moving to the other side of the dragons' nest, away from the enormous dragon. However, the Hiccup-father and a short, burly person with tall horns stayed behind and charged the bulk of teeth and claws.

Toothless could hardly believe his eyes. _They're going to sacrifice themselves! To what end? _Once she finished with then, she would just destroy the rest of the horned-people herd. As water lapped at his claws, Toothless watched the Hiccup-father bait the giant with a sharp branch. In the dragon's sight, he braced himself for death as the Great One bared her teeth and gas curled from her maw…

A fireball exploded on the backside of her thick skull, and a flight of dragons emerged from behind their target. A single of each species: a blue-horn, a brown-knob, a two-head, and the scarlet horn-dragon Toothless had fought earlier. It was all of the dragons from the cage! And riding them was…Hiccup! And Astrid! And every one of the horned-people hatchlings. Toothless was ecstatic!

The troupe soared a safe distance away from the furious she-dragon; they flew in a circle, apparently devising a plan. Then they dispersed. The two-head, horn-dragon and brown-knob distracted the Great One, taunting her just out of reach. The blue-horn circled above the float-woods, and Toothless saw Hiccup looking back and forth. Finally, he spotted Toothless, and the blue-horn came back around with Astrid and Hiccup. It hovered over Toothless; Hiccup jumped off and yelled to Astrid, "Go help the others!" The blue-horn flapped away noisily. "All right, buddy, just hold on," the male hatchling said, and yanked the leather band off of Toothless' jaws. The dragon worked his mouth around, getting rid of the stiffness that had developed. Hiccup, brandishing a heavy metal stick, began hacking at the black vines that held Toothless down.

Behind him, the Great One thrashed around, though the source of her discomfort Toothless could not see. Then, without warning, her tail came crashing around, snapping off several trees. A huge branch fell between Toothless and his friend, and before Hiccup could jump over the smoldering piece of wood, a colossal wave rolled through the water, overturning the float-woods that stood in its path. Toothless gave an alarmed squawk to alert Hiccup before becoming enveloped in surging darkness.

The bubbles cleared, and Toothless sank to the very bottom of the rocky sea. The water was bitter and salty. It stung his eyes as he pulled at his confines. Above him, Hiccup dove down to his level. He pulled futilely at the vines, then became still. A few bubbles floated from his mouth as a splash rocked the water and he was dragged away by some unseen force. Toothless bellowed after him, the water muting his cry. His chest emptied of air. Toothless' vision began to darken, and he was in such pain that he welcomed it. He drifted off, blinking, when his neck was released. Struggling to focus, he beheld Hiccup-father in front of him. Toothless narrowed his eyes, leaped forward, seized him by the neck, and burst out of the water, dragging Hiccup-father behind him. The dragon landed on the stony ground. He shook himself free of water and jerked his head towards the Great One. Hiccup leaped onto his back, but was stopped from flying away by his father, who spoke to him, though Hiccup could not understand him through the pounding of blood in his ears. Then Hiccup said, "Thanks, Dad," and then they were ready at last.

Toothless exploded into the air with a power thrust. The clouds drew nearer, and they shot straight up. Behind them, a shrill whistling and gushing of air made Toothless turn round to see Astrid and her blue-horn held in place by a crushing suction caused by the Great One inhaling nonstop. She was sucked nearer and nearer to her death, until Toothless, at Hiccup's urging, fired a blast of his special fire into the Great One's mouth. Astrid fell, her blue-horn jarred from the blast. Toothless dived in what he later thought of his most spectacular dive yet. He dipped, turned under Astrid and caught her, then righted himself again.

"Did you get her?" Hiccup yelled. Toothless looked down to see the female no-horn dangling from his claws. He grinned and looked back up. Swooping low, he dropped her gently upright and raced away.

"That thing has wings," Hiccup said in amazement. "Let's see if it can use them, then!"

In another spectacular maneuver (Toothless was feeling quite good about himself), he stopped himself by flaring out his wings. That caused him to begin to drop, and he used the momentum to shoot downwards like a falcon. Toothless released his biggest globule of fire yet, knocking the Great One over with a single pass.

She roared in pain and rage. Her wings creaked upwards in a billow of collected dust, ragged and rippling. She launched herself with her gargantuan muscles, sucking the air out of Toothless' ears and causing a momentary absence of sound with a sweep of her mighty wings. Luckily, instead of cavities, Toothless had sensitive bumps that were not affected by the absence of air. He worried about the young person, but he seemed unperturbed. "Well, it can fly," he said over the _WHUMP, WHUMP, WHUMP _of the Great One's wingbeats.

Toothless snorted in agreement.

Hiccup urged Toothless into the maze of freestanding rock pillars that dotted the ocean, draped in fog and very hard to see. However, it would be even harder for the Great One to squeeze between the narrow gaps in between. Toothless darted in and out of the rock with ease. He heard tremendous crashes and low gratings, the sound of boulders scraping against each other. She was not going around the pillars; she was going through them.  
>"All right, Toothless," Hiccup growled, thinking hard, "time to disappear!"<p>

Hiccup locked in the up position with his tail-mover-foot, Toothless began to rise up into the clouds. Toothless began to see Hiccup's plan somewhat. He flapped harder than ever, eager to escape the onslaught of gravel. The Great One followed suit, bellowing to the gray, cloudy sky. Toothless smelled the putrid gas that erupted from her mouth, and he swerved at the last second, escaping a billowing cloud of fire. The Great One flew through it without harm. Like all dragons, she was entirely fireproof. Toothless, however, had to be more careful on account of his leafy Hiccup-tail that would easily catch fire.

Giving a few more powerful thrusts, he surged into the damp stillness of the clouds. They were heavy with rain, and moisture beaded on Toothless' face. The Great One hovered in the quiet air, growling challenges. She swung her head about, searching for any signs of movement. Flying swiftly, Toothless gained height above and behind her. With a shriek, he bombed her with a hail of fireballs. First behind, then above, then in front and below, Toothless never stayed in one spot, nor attacked in the same place twice. Soon, the Great One's wings were full of sizzling holes. The giant dragon screamed in pain. Not knowing where her target was, she sprayed fire everywhere around her immediate area, encasing herself in an aura of flames. The great arcs of fire expanded outward, and despite his best efforts, a wall of it gained on Toothless, and he smelled smoke as his tail caught on fire. There was no pain, but it was uncomfortably hot. Only Hiccup prevented him from panicking.

"Time's up," Hiccup said loudly but calmly. He looked over his shoulder at the burning mass of people-leaf and metal smoldering behind them. "Let's see if this works."

Toothless arched his back in a reverse loop. Dodging an enormous blue wing that almost knocked him off, Hiccup yelled, "Come on! That's the best you can do?", trying to goad the Great One into following them. Toothless added his own voice; snarling loudly, he dove towards her six eyes, letting her know exactly where he was. "_Come and get me, you great big lizard!"_ The Great One was furious. She snapped at them, and in her rage, missed. As the Night Fury began to dive once more, she tilted her head and rotated her wing sockets, intent on destroying them once and for all.

It was a tense moment; at any time, the Hiccup-tail would give out and leave Toothless without control of his flight. The Great One was heavier and had greater wing beats. She gained quickly because of this, roaring all the while. Her teeth were only a few tail-lengths from him. He could not turn, though he heard Hiccup trying with all of his might. Even he was getting desperate.

The ground appeared out of the clouds. The rest of the horned-people watched the plummeting figures with upturned faces. Toothless was doing all he could to avoid the slipstream caused by the Great One's bulk rushing behind them.

The Great One rumbled behind him. _"You will die in vain, traitor!"_

Finally, he smelled the gas one last time. Wait for it… "Hold, Toothless," Hiccup whispered, as they waited for there to be enough fire-smoke. Toothless closed his eyes tight, hoping that they would not be incinerated by their mistake.

"Now!" Hiccup shouted suddenly. Toothless whipped himself around so that they were falling backwards; with all his remaining strength, he roared, _"If I die, it will be defeating you!" _He puffed out his chest and ignited the gas within the Great One's throat. Her eyes widened as a chain reaction forced itself down to her insides. Fire trailed from her mouth. She saw the fast approaching ground and tried to stop herself by unfolding her wings. They were still riddled with holes, however, and a tearing sound filled the air as her wings were ripped to shreds. Toothless was sucked behind her in the slipstream.

With a final bellow, the dreaded Great One crashed into the ground, exploding as the gas forced its way outside. A blast of hot air accompanied the fireball of dragon and smoke.

Toothless was caught inside the blast. The fire closed over his head. He had no choice but to go forward. He dodged the bumps of her back with increasing clumsiness. The Hiccup-tail snapped off and was consumed by the fire. Toothless looked ahead and saw the Great One's tail swinging towards them with blinding speed and force.

It was a blur. The tail smashed into Toothless. Hiccup disappeared off of his back. Turning, Toothless saw Hiccup fly backwards, falling into the hungry fire. Everything seemed to slow down as Toothless reached out and flapped as hard as he could.

The last thing Toothless remembered was his fireproof wings closing around Hiccup. Then the flames enveloped them, and he knew no more.

* * *

><p>Toothless' mind was slow and fuzzy. He felt no more heat. He could hardly feel anything. As he regained consciousness, Toothless felt the rocky ground of the shore beneath him.<p>

Distant shouts rang in the back of his mind. He dimly recognized the deep voice of Hiccup-father. They faded into quiet growls and moans. Toothless opened his heavy lids and peered at the Hiccup-father through a hazy fog. Everything was gray, and he could see no farther than a single leap. _Is something wrong with my head?_ Toothless wondered.

As his surroundings sharpened, he realized that everything around him really was gray. Hiccup-father was coated in ash and dust. Behind him stood the rest of the horned-people in mourning.

Toothless felt the warm body of Hiccup in his legs. His breathing was steady, but he was not yet awake. Toothless began to realize that Hiccup-father was missing…Hiccup.

The dragon raised his tired wings, exposing the still form of the young hatchling. "Hiccup!" The Hiccup-father held him in his thick arms and did some strange things like taking off his horns and putting his head next to Hiccup's chest. "He's alive!" he choked out. The rest of the horned-people cried out in delighted voices. "You brought him back alive!"

_Brought him back?_ Toothless thought fuzzily._ I didn't bring him back… _

Hiccup-father placed a hand on Toothless' head. "Thank you for saving my son," he said in a low rumble.

Toothless grunted his acceptation, then rested his head on the ground and closed his eyes.

He didn't know what had happened next, but the next time he woke up he was in a new place. It was made of wood, and it surrounded him, like a cage. Circles hung on the wall, and dragon-cleavers and other pieces of metal. On a nest of cloth and straw lay Hiccup, still unmoving.

Toothless got up at once, feeling much better than he did before. He licked Hiccup's face, whining, but he still did not rouse himself. Toothless backed up and waited anxiously.

It seemed like an eternity before Hiccup began to stir. Toothless sniffed his face, growling with anticipation. Hiccup blinked open his eyes.

Toothless snuffled and began licking him again. "Hey, Toothless," Hiccup said groggily. "I'm glad to see you too…oooff!" Toothless had gotten up in his lap in his attempts to be as close to him as possible. "Where…?"

Toothless began to shift in place. He was overjoyed to see Hiccup again. Toothless began bounding around the cage, knocking over various objects with a clatter. Hiccup tried to get out of his nest to catch him, but stopped suddenly. Toothless jumped down from his place in the tree-logs that lined the ceiling above him and looked at Hiccup curiously.

After moving aside the covers, Hiccup set his feet down on the wooden floor. Well, one of his feet. Where his left paw had been was a funny tree-metal piece that smelled somewhat like the stout man that was often with Hiccup-father.

_Hiccup lost a foot!_ As this hit him, Toothless looked up at Hiccup with big, sad eyes. The no-horn hatchling seemed just as sad. Toothless wondered if he could walk.

Hiccup stood up, wobbly. He clutched the tree-stick beside him that was attached to the nest. Every step seemed to cause him pain. When the young no-horn began to fall over, Toothless stuck out his head and caught him. "Thanks, bud," Hiccup said gratefully as the two walked to the opening of the cage. Hiccup grasped a funny bulb-shaped protuberance with his paw and pulled. Toothless refrained from being surprised, because with people, anything was possible.

Outside, a horn-dragon roared, painfully loud. Startled, Hiccup slammed the piece of wood closed. "Toothless, stay here," he whispered, then opened the wood and gasped.

The scene was astonishing! All over the horned-people's dens were dragons of every shape and color. But they weren't attacking. They were actually helping the horned-people! Rebuilding dens, lighting fires, carrying wood, they were everywhere. Toothless wondered if he and Hiccup really were dead. But, no, it was real enough. As he watched from the wood-cage, Toothless saw a herd of horned-people gathering around Hiccup and hiding him from view.

Toothless shook his head. These horned-people sure were strange. Through the midst of the horned-people, he saw the female strike Hiccup roughly on the arm. Toothless bared his teeth, but lowered his mouth in astonishment as Astrid did the same foreign thing she had before: she touched her mouth to his. Toothless thought it was _disgusting._ He began to leap towards Hiccup, tired of staying where he was. He bowled over a few horned-people in the process, but soon he stood in front of Hiccup and Astrid, the former holding a red Hiccup-tail smelling of the same horned-person who had made Hiccup a new foot.

Toothless was soon fitted and ready, Hiccup on his back and Astrid by his side on her blue-horn. He stood looking at the beautiful sight of dragons working with horned-people, relishing the fact that he would never have to steal or hide or even kill again. Then they were flying as they had never flown before, turning and twisting in between the trees of the float-woods, and he even tramped around on the person-crossing-wood that spanned the length between two cliffs. Others joined them, but Toothless was only aware of him and Hiccup together at last, as they flew into the sun.

***red curtain comes down***

**So, I hoped you liked reading this! Obviously this was the last chapter, but if you want more, I've got a fully-loaded HTTYD fanfiction from our favorite female Viking's point of view. Do you guys want to see it? (Hint: click on that there button yonder south. Thanks!)**


End file.
